LOS ANGELES — A woman was taken into custody Wednesday for allegedly setting fires in the Sherman Oaks area overnight that were initially regarded by authorities as “suspicious” and later confirmed to have been intentionally set.
About 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters went to the 13800 block of Ventura Boulevard on a report of an “outside fire” that extended to a flower shop in a block-long row of commercial buildings, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The flower shop at the location is Mark’s Garden, which is known for providing the floral arrangements every year for the Governors Ball following the Academy Awards.
The fire extended to the 3,000-square-foot, one-story flower shop, and was extinguished in 23 minutes by the firefighters, who prevented the flames from spreading to adjacent buildings, Humphrey said.
The fire was among several vegetation and/or debris fires that occurred in the general area at the time, according to Humphrey. No injuries were reported.
About 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters went to the 4600 block of Nagle Avenue, south of the 101 Freeway, where they battled heavy flames at a 1,409-square-foot, one-story home, Humphrey said.
It took 47 firefighters 23 minutes to extinguish the flames, and no injuries were reported, Humphrey said. The location is about a mile from the flower shop that was damaged in the earlier fire.
The cause of the house fire was also considered suspicious, Humphrey said. LAFD arson investigators and Los Angeles Police Department Major Crimes Division investigators were assigned to the case.
On Wednesday afternoon, LAFD officials issued a statement confirming the fires at the flower shop and the home were “intentional acts” and that a suspect had been arrested.
Fox11 broadcast video of the woman being taken into custody and reported that she is suspected of setting as many as a dozen fires, including the one that heavily damaged the Mark’s Garden flower…
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